Going Beyond
by Black Dynimate
Summary: It was an inspiring speech. It was a speech that would push him forward, past the loneliness, past the failures and past his graduation test. And nothing was stopping him. And the funny thing is… the speech wasn't even directed at him!
1. An exhausting luck

It was just a normal afternoon, during which you could find Naruto walking through the streets of the Leaf Village, the small child was just getting out of the academy to go to his favorite restaurant in the whole world. For him, it was another boring day at the ninja academy, as all the teachers were lecturing their usual "blah blah I'm so boring blah blah". Gah! It made him want to go to sleep! And he couldn't get out of the school without being dragged back in! And worst of all, this week there wasn't any field training!

BORING!

He sighed and looked angrily at the street floor, kicking a small pebble and hitting some guy at the side. The guy glared and grumbled to himself when he saw the kid; Naruto stuck his tongue out at the man and continued on his merry way. A though crossed his mind and he perked up. As boring and annoying as the academy was, he got something awesome out of it, besides seeing Sakura of course.

He got a spot in the graduation test tomorrow! Iruka-sensei had said that he was allowed to attend the graduation exam because of the Old Man Hokage. When his sensei asked if he wanted a shot at it, his immediate response was a resounding yes! Iruka-sensei snorted and gave him small smile, wishing him luck. Even though the older man turned around, he did hear him mutter something about him not being ready and teaching him to stop goofing off.

Bah! Who cares what he said! He was graduating and that's that! Believe it.

At this, the ten year old Uzumaki started to grin and began jumping up and down screaming about how cool he was and how he was going to be Hokage! His imagination began to play images of how everyone in his class was looking at him in awe, how Iruka-Sensei regretted doubting him and bought him ramen forever, how Sasuke stared at him with fear and accepted him as his superior, how Sakura became his super girlfriend, how he became Hokage. And how the entire village stopped ignoring him and was looking at him with admiration and respect.

He would be so cool and be doing so many cool things. All he had to do was graduate and go be the most awesome ninja ever. So far, the only thing in his way to become a ninja was the weapon throwing part, the kicking someone's ass part, the totally useless and unfair written test and the three basic jutsu part.

At this, his grin and happy chanting changed into a frown. It was no secret that he sucked at the clone jutsu, everyone knew it and he knew it too. Anytime he did the stupid technique, all he got was some sickly looking clone and that always got him extremely embarrassed and angry. And because the instructors tended to give surprise evaluation of what they have learned, he was always caught off guard. He was very good at the transformation jutsu, his substitution was not that good. Well, it wasn't because he couldn't do it, it just took him time to make the jutsu. And the clone jutsu… he couldn't even make one! Even two were not good! And ever since then, he had stopped trying the stupid jutsu. But that was before, now with the entire graduation thing…

"Who cares! I'll get that stupid jutsu all figured out and graduate!" Naruto thought. At this, he grinned and continued on his way to the Ichiraku's ramen store.

But suddenly, he felt something down on his stomach and it wasn't the usual hunger for ramen, but a feeling that he always tried to push away so that he never felt down or sad. He doubted himself.

In another life, he would have ignored this feeling and would have been confident enough about his chances of passing and he would go to the small ramen stand and eat happily while chatting with the owners about how his day was and how he was going to pass the exams and be a ninja finally.

But it was because of this feeling of doubt that caused him to be in deep thought. Because of this, he did something that was normally impossible for him to do. He passed the ramen stand without as much as a backward glance.

Many questions started to form in his head.

What if he failed? What if he wasn't good enough? Would he be dropped out of the academy? Would Old Man Hokage begin to ignore him because he failed?

…Would he fail and be ignored forever?

So many questions began to run through his mind and he couldn't find an answer for any of them. His confidence started to wisp out of his body and his doubt began to overpower him. All he wanted to do was to graduate and accomplish his dream of being Hokage!

He needed something – anything - to reassure him that he could do this! That he wouldn't fail!

…But what?

"Gai-Sensei, I can't do it! I'm not good enough." Someone shouted. The loud scream snapped Naruto out his depressed state and he looked at a weird pair, along with some villagers nearby. The one who shouted was a kid with big eyebrows who had tears spilling from his eyes.

"Lee! What are you saying?!" Gasped out the man with even bigger eyebrows!

"Gai-Sensei, I can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu! How am I going to even catch up to everyone in my class? How am I going to become a ninja if I-GUK!" That Lee guy was cut off when the older man punched him on the top of his head.

"Lee! If you keep thinking like that, you will fail!" Screamed the man at the now openly crying Lee. "But…"

At this, the young boy looked up at the older man.

"If you keep pushing forward, no matter the odds, or who is standing against you - You…!" The man pointed at the kid. "….Will succeed! To be youthful is to never give up! To push your own limits! If a hundred is your limit, then push to two hundred! Then three hundred! And even beyond that!"

Lee looked up at Gai with a confused expression before it morphed into one of pure determination. He seemed to have a spark in them before he nodded.

"Right, Gai-Sensei!" Shouted Lee, his once sad tone changed to one of pure confidence.

The man nodded and gave a thumps up to the academy trainee. "Go, Lee! Show everyone what you're truly made of!" Gai screamed. The kid nodded and began to run away at top speed in the direction of the crowd, passing it and a frozen Naruto without notice. The older man began to chuckle to himself before he disappeared, clearly proud of himself for inspiring someone in need.

He never noticed that he had not only inspired Lee, but Naruto as well. The younger academy trainee smiled before it turned into a full grin.

"To push my own limits… to go beyond…" Naruto muttered softly, the feeling of doubt disappearing just like with that Lee guy, being replaced by determination.

With those words in mind, Naruto turned and began running towards one of the training grounds in the academy. Students were allowed to enter the academy training fields at any time and whenever he walked and passed the academy after class, he never saw anybody there, it meant that he had the fields all for himself.

Once he entered, he decided to get to work. With a cry of determination he began to train.

* * *

><p>Iruka was just preparing to enter into the academy and get to work. Seeing that, as usual, he was the very first to get there, so he went at a very slow pace. Walking through the hallway of the building, he turned his head to see the training fields. The one which new initiates use, the one for the second years, the-wait…<p>

The scarred chunin saw a blond child on the field's floor who was snoring loudly, as if he was there all night. And seeing how dirty he looked, that was probably what he did. Sighing, he took a detour from his usual routine and went to wake up the child.

Standing over the snoring kid, Iruka kicked him slightly to his right leg. At this the kid twitched a little, but continued sleeping. The older man sighed at this, knowing how much of a heavy sleeper Naruto was, so he took a deep breath and…

"WAKE UP!" Naruto's eyes snapped open before he jumped up and started looking around with wide eyes, yet a sleepy expression. When he looked at Iruka, his face changed into one of confusion.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked before being slapped on the head."Gah!"

"Don't curse!" Iruka scolded him while crossing his arms. "What are you doing here, Naruto?"

"Huh? I was just training. Why?" The chunin raised his thumb up to the sky, Naruto followed the finger and saw that it was already morning. "Whoa… I fell asleep?" Naruto asked Iruka.

"You don't say?" Was the sarcastic remark, at this the young Uzumaki stuck his tongue out before he started swaying. Seeing this, the older man reached out to keep him balanced. "Naruto! Are you alright?" Asked Iruka with concern.

"Y-yeah…" Naruto said shaking his head. Iruka watched him with concern, seeing that the young student was suffering from something that he had seen many times before on other students and some of his fellows colleagues, the effects of chakra exhaustion.

'He probably pushed himself too hard – heck, he probably just fell asleep recently.' The man snorted. 'Even though he has that thing sealed inside of him, it would seem that even he has his limits' Thought Iruka. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah… Yeah!" Shouted Naruto with more energy, but he still looked a little bit shaken. "Oh no! I totally forgot that today is my graduation exam!" At this the young Uzumaki started running around Iruka.

"Naruto…"

"What!?" Naruto asked with a desperate expression.

"You're at the academy…"

"Oh…" Was all the boy said and calmed himself down. Then he tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes. "Soooo, what now?"

Iruka sighed and beckoned for the boy to follow him.

'Better get this over with.' Iruka thought, looking at Naruto who was walking behind him. 'Once he fails this exam, it will teach him that the life of Ninja is not about messing around or about having fun.' The two continued walking in silence, which was odd - considering Naruto was with him, until they made it to a classroom door. Iruka opened the door and allowed the student to enter.

"Here will be where you're going to start your examination. Get some rest and be ready." He said to the boy. Naruto nodded and began to go to one of the desks. "Hey Naruto…"

At this, the young boy looked at him with confusion.

"Good luck." Even if he didn't hate the boy for what he was, he didn't like him either. He was annoying, brash and way too much like he was, once upon a time. He knew what it felt like to be ignored and what it was like to fail to bring at least some attention to yourself. Even if he failed, he would at least take the kid to eat some of that ramen he liked so much. It's the least he could do.

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry, I'll be genin in no time Iruka-Sensei! Just you wait." Was all he said before he turned and sat down in one of the seats, waiting with a huge grin on his face. Iruka shook his head with a small smile on his face before he left the room.

* * *

><p>Akio Nobu, the instructor for the ninjutsu portion of the test, nodded his head in satisfaction after seeing the transformation jutsu being well executed.<p>

"Now for the substitution." Was all he said to the fox boy. The young student nodded and started to prepare the hand seals for the jutsu. While the kid was doing that, the man's mind began to wander to the blonde's performance in today's graduation.

In the written portion, the young pariah had done just as expected… or unexpected if you thought about it. From what he gathered, the kid was supposed to be the dead-last of his class, the clown who goofed off at any given moment. Yet, the kid had passed… had passed with a barely acceptable grade but it was still a pass, so it was surprising when you were expecting him to fail.

With the weapon accuracy portion, the blond brat had performed quite well. Although from what he was told, the brat's aim wasn't that good and by the end of it, he was shaking slightly and yawning. He wondered if the brat just found these exams boring or something.

The sparring part was one of the most amusing ones and he wished he hadn't missed it. The brat was sparing against one of his fellow instructors and was losing badly. The instructor himself was going a little bit harsher than needed from what he heard, but suddenly the fox boy tripped and landed a head-butt in the man's poor private area. The surprise and shock of this caught him so off guard that he fell down to the floor, passing the brat.

And now here was said brat standing… on the other side of the room with a log standing where he was supposed to be, although he did look quite tired. He wondered why? Wasn't the brat supposed to have an endless supply of energy? Humph! Didn't matter! He had missed the brat's replacement and he needed another round.

"Again." At this, the brat's tired eyes widened and he stared at the man in shock.

"What?! But I just did it!"

"Brat, just do it."

Naruto, grumbling to himself, began the jutsu again. Once he had pulled the technique for second time, he found himself even more tired than before and he looked at the instructor with dread, knowing what was coming next.

The man nodded again, writing something on his clipboard, before looking at him. Seeing his look, the feeling of dread intensified and his heart pounded on his chest as if it wanted to jump out.

"Clone." With those words, Naruto's entire resolve shattered.

'I'm going to fail! I'm going to fail! I'm going to fail! I'm going t-!' The words repeated in his head before he remember something important, something that was – hopefully - going to make him pass.

"I'm going beyond my own limits!" The blond child screamed with all his might. Then he started to gather chakra. The instructor looked at him weirdly before shaking his head and going for the clipboard to write failure, already knowing of the brat's ineptitude with the jutsu. Before he could do anything, he felt the chakra spike a lot further and everything was covered in smoke. The man looked with a raised eyebrow, then his jaw dropped open staring at the sight before him.

Naruto stood there breathing harshly with another him repeating his action and another and another and another. When the smoke cleared, there were at least nine Narutos standing and 7 of them were on the floor looking as if someone decided to spin them around for a couple of hours.

The man shut his jaw quickly and composed himself.

"You pass."

Naruto's eyes widened and he was looking at the man in shock. His clones started disappearing out of thin air, but were completely ignored. The man reached out and threw a leaf headband at the newly graduated blond. Said blond caught it, looking at it with growing happiness - after three years of being an academy student, of being a failure - he had graduated.

"I, I, I …" The blond tried to speak but his tired state and shock stopped him. The chunin was about to tell the kid to get out when the blond jumped up with a fist raised in the air.

"YEAH! I PASS!"

Then Naruto Uzumaki, new genin of the Hidden Leaf Village, former dead-last of his past academy class and future Hokage, fainted due to a mixture of excitement and plain exhaustion.

* * *

><p>Beta by Fallen Angel of Slovakia<p> 


	2. To prove one's own dream

"I'm still quite shocked that the jinchuriki managed to pass." Homura Mitokado muttered, stroking his beard.

"I find it more shocking that he only passed by pure dumb luck." Koharu Utatane said shaking her head, before taking some tea. "Graduating only because he was too tired from training all night? Because his chakra levels were low enough for him to perform the clone jutsu? Tell me again why are you letting the leaf's jinchuriki become a ninja? When the child can barely even throw a kunai."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and began massaging his aged forehead.

"Because telling the boy he failed to become a ninja because he only graduated on nothing but pure luck would only discourage him from trying again. Now, had he failed? That would be a different story; he would probably be trying again and again until he got it." The Third chuckled at that before he cut it short. "Had we stopped him, he would see it as betrayal on my part. It would most probably make him resent me and the entire village."

"True." Koharu conceded. "We're quite lucky that he hasn't snapped like some of the jinchuriki from the other villages." The woman gave the Hokage a look. "But still… is it wise to put him on the ninja roster? Would it not be better to apprentice him to one of our most trusted jounin? Or maybe even Jiraiya?"

"We wouldn't have been having this conversation had we given him to Danzo." Homura said shaking his head.

"Danzo? Oh, come on now, Homura - you can't still be on about that?" Hiruzen asked taking out his pipe and preparing it.

"Yes, I am still on about that. He would have trained the child well and by now we would probably have a strong and capable jinchuriki, ready to destroy any of the leaf's enemies. Not this sad excuse of a 'ninja' that can barely even throw a punch, much less strike someone with enough power to kill." Was the glass wearing man's cold response.

Hiruzen stared at Homura with an impassive gaze while the other man unflinchingly met him with similar stare.

"While I agree with your assessment of the boy's lack of capabilities…" Koharu said. "I must disagree on the part of Danzo training the boy." At this both men looked at her in surprise.

"What…?" Was the only response from Homura, expecting the elder woman to back him up.

"I prefer for the leaf's village jinchuriki to be at the very least stable, thank you very much. Him being trained by Danzo would mean no emotions and the possibility of him snapping under pressure would become far too high for this option to even be taken into consideration." The elder woman said, taking a sip from her cup of tea.

"Indeed." The Third adjusted his hat before standing up and looking at the village. "But, for now, there's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, and why not?" Questioned Homura.

"Because for him to become a true ninja, he must earn his newly appointed teammates' trust and show them that he is capable of fighting alongside them." At this the Hokage smiled. "For them to pass the true test, they must exceed their sensei's expectations and look underneath the underneath."

"Hump! You should have said that from the very beginning, then." Homura said, understanding what he meant.

"At the very least, he will be sent to the Gennin training camp - and the others of course, if they show the potential." Koharu nodded, relaxing slightly.

_"Now…"_ Hiruzen thought _"Let's see if you can defy the odds once more, Naruto."_

* * *

><p>Naruto Uzumaki's face was hurting like crazy. But it wasn't because he got injured or of some rare sickness. It was because he was happy, excited, joyful, proud and so on – a veritable jumble of so many emotions, that it probably defied the laws of the universe – and the grin he had on his face almost tore some of his muscles apart. The leaf's headband was proudly put on his forehead. He wore an orange hoodie with blue short sleeves and green shorts.<p>

He was a ninja! He may have graduated as the dead-last, but he was a ninja! He was one step closer to becoming the Hokage! Yes - one step closer! Or few steps closer… who cared!? He would be able to complete all of his goals! Believe It!

He still remembered Iruka's face when he saw him with his forehead protector! It was so priceless! And he bought him ramen! Yes! He could just imagine how all of his former classmates would react! It was nearly impossible, but his grin grew anyway.

Then a female Academy Instructor entered the room. At this, any form of interaction ceased, every single student paid complete attention to the woman at the front. The blond, seeing this, quickly stopped fidgeting in excitement and stood still, much to the relief of the two older gennin beside him.

The chunin cleared her throat and launched on some speech about the life of a ninja and how much responsibility they had. In his honest opinion… it sucked! The young ninja almost booed her for the incredibly boring speech. Why couldn't all speeches be as awesome as that super-eye brows guy's. When she finished the speech, she started to call out the teams.

"Team 4! Masaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki and Orie Honda. Your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

At this, the young gennin started looking around for his teammates, but he didn't even know how they looked! Giving up on searching for his teammates he sat back down, waiting for the instructor to finish calling out the rest of the teams.

After that, they went onto a lunch break. Naruto sat alone, eating his lunch while wondering about his future as a ninja. While he knew he would just be an awesome ninja, he just couldn't ignore the fact that his future was actually pretty much impossible to predict.

Back before graduating, just thinking about that felt weird and cool, because his life was pretty linear. Wake up, go to school, prank people, eat, sleep and repeat. But now… he shook his head and got rid of the thoughts. He already knew how his future was going to be and that's that!

Now that the whole future problem was resolved, he started thinking about his other problem. His team, just who the heck were they?

He couldn't think of a way to find out for now, so he just shrugged and continued eating. He would know who they were in time. Seeing lunch break was over he got back into the classroom where moments later Jounin started to enter and take their teams. And just as the last team disappeared through the door, Naruto looked behind to see who was left.

The first person he saw was a twelve year old girl; she had dark blue hair that reached down to her shoulders. Her headband was on her forehead, keeping the hair from falling to her eyes. Speaking about eyes, hers were big and brown. She had a purple long sleeved shirt that was tucked in her light brown colored pants that reached to her knees.

The second person he saw was a guy with black hair that was tied in a ponytail. He had a white jacket and brown pants. The older boy looked as if he was about to fall asleep! Thinking about it, he looked a lot like Shikamaru! Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion before nodding to himself, satisfied with knowing how his teammates looked. The pony-tailed boy noticed his look and raised an eyebrow at him. Naruto just averted his gaze, all of a sudden a little bit self-conscious. And just like many times before, he squashed any feeling that made him uncomfortable. After that, all three of them sat in silence. The older boy fell asleep; the girl stood up and began walking around the classroom, reading a book and Naruto was getting restless.

Suddenly, he jumped out of his seat and stood atop the desk.

"The name is Naruto Uzumaki! The future Hokage! And don't you dare forget it!" The young gennin shouted, wanting to get the awkwardness out of his system.

The sleeping boy just looked at him for a moment and then went back to sleep. This made the blond angry, he hated being ignored! Just as he was about to shout at the sleeping Nara, he was cut off.

"If what I hear about you is true…" The girl stopped walking and looked up from her book. "You'll never be Hokage, really." The older girl said bluntly. Naruto hearing this began to growl, he had heard the same thing a thousand times but now that he was ninja, it made him angrier than ever before.

"Bah! Who the hell cares what you think!?" Naruto growled out, crossing his arms and dropping down to the seat below him, even though he was frowning his lip was quivering slightly. Orie saw this and sighed, already feeling guilty about making a kid younger than her ready to cry. Shaking her head, she snapped her book shut and walked up to the blond kid who turned his head to the other way and ignored her.

"Acting like a brat won't exactly make things fix themselves, you know?" Orie said, raising an eyebrow and putting her hands on her hips. "You're a ninja now, so you should really be taking things a little bit more seriously."

"The hell do ya know!?"

"I know that many times we were left without a teacher because you decided to skip out in the academy to start pranking the village. Basically, you made many of us waste our time and not get the education we need for us to accomplish our goals in life." Orie said narrowing her eyes at the younger gennin. Said gennin gritted his teeth and looked at her with an angry expression.

"It's not my fault that the academy is so boring! So what!? I went out there to have some fun!" Naruto said nodding to himself. "And anyway some of them got what they deserve! Nobody looks down on Naruto Uzumaki!"

"So you think it's fun to mess up with people's workplace and ruin all the food they could have sold, had it not been for rats eating everything in there." Naruto looked at the girl with an eyebrow raised, ready to say what that had to do with him when he remembered once using rats to prank some store and why he had pranked said store. Some guy, probably the owner, told him that he should give up on his dream about becoming Hokage and that he would never be good at it anyway. So as payback, he had pranked him the hardest way possible. He never heard from him again and the store had closed, Naruto just grinedn to himself and continue with his normal everyway day life.

"Hey that guy tol-!"

"He told you that you would never be Hokage, I know."

"What? How the heck do you know that!?"

"Because the man who told you that was my father." Orie said.

"Hah!" Naruto pointed at her accusingly. "That's why you say that I'll never be Hokage! Because-!" Again, the blond was cut off by the older girl.

"You know that he lost the shop." Orie muttered softly, looking at Naruto straight in the eye. The blond gennin's angry retort stopped short when he heard the soft voice. It was very unusual to hear someone speak to him very softly, the only people who did that was the Old Man Hokage and Old Man Ichiraku.

"With the loss of the shop, dad had no way to get any money to provide for the two of us." The female gennin said, looking down at the floor she continued. "For months, dad couldn't find a job. During those months, we lost our home because he couldn't pay the rent and lost a lot of things. Dad had to sell most of our stuff… _including hers._" The last part, she said much quieter, the only reason Naruto even heard her was because he was quite close to her. Then she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"I knew that it was you. That you were the one who had cost dad his job job. You're always pranking people, always goofing off – not caring that it hurts other people." Naruto felt as if someone had kicked him in the gut. Whenever he pranked someone that was it, they either avoided him or just glared at him. Even though most of his pranks were harmless fun, even he could admit when he decided to be a bit cruel. And it would seem that this one was probably his cruelest prank ever.

"Dad only found a job thanks to the kindness of the Lord Hokage, who offered him a job as a janitor at the Hokage Tower." Hearing this Naruto winced, feeling even worse. "That's why _I_ believe that you will never be Hokage, because a Hokage is kind to his people not be a spoiled brat like _you._"

And with that, silence reigned in the room. Orie stood with her arms on her hips and looked at the blond with an impassive gaze. Naruto couldn't even look her straight in the eye without cringing, he was dealing with something that he never felt - guilt and shame. Guilt for the consequences and shame because of his actions, Naruto looked down with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

"Why do you want to become Hokage?" The blond looked up surprised that the question was coming from his supposed sleeping teammate. Orie and Naruto looked at Masaru who still had a sleepy looked on his face.

"Huh?" The Nara just sighed at the blonde's response.

"I asked you, why do you want to be Hokage?" The older boy repeated.

Before his conversation with his female teammate, Naruto would have proudly proclaimed his dream and his reasons for wanting to achieve it. But now, after seeing that his actions actually had consequences and being told that he was not going to be Hokage by someone he hurt made him feel really bad. He lowered his head.

"I want everyone to pay attention to me… to respect me." At those, words Orie and Masaru shook their heads, they were about to go and ignore the kid when Naruto kept on talking. "Ever since I was little… everyone always ignored me. They never looked at me, or if they did look at me, it was always with cold indifference. Even people of my own age ignored me! I didn't have anyone… I was always alone. All I really wanted was someone to acknowledge me!" At this Naruto looked at his older teammates, who looked at him curiously.

"So when I started doing pranks, many people finally began to pay attention to me! It didn't matter if they were annoyed or angry at me! At least they looked at me! At least they began to talk about me! But when I saw that some of my pranks made some people laugh - I wanted that… I didn't want to be ignored, but I didn't want people to be always angry at me. So when one day I saw the Old Man Hokage walking around the street and saw how people waved at him! They smiled at him! And they showed him respect! I wanted that… I wanted to at least have that. So I said that I wanted to become Hokage! If taking the hat from the Old Man Hokage was going to have people acknowledge me…!" Naruto stopped, lowering his head even further. It was really difficult to stop acting tough, he really didn't want to show that he was weak… he didn't like that, but…

But it was really difficult to be tough, when probably all his efforts to get attention had possibly screwed his chance of being Hokage. The knowledge of one of his pranks hurting someone really made him feel bad, especially when there was a possibility it happened to more people. His tough guy mask persona cracked, his eyes began to water and he started to shake slightly.

"…I just don't want to be alone anymore…"

Orie's eyes softened at seeing the younger boy crying; Masaru looked at the blond boy and nodded to himself.

"I'm going to tell you then, that you if you don't want to be alone… you're going have to prove yourself." Masaru said seriously, Orie looked at him with a single brow raised and Naruto raised his head revealing that he was indeed crying.

"Huh?" Was all the blond said to the older boy.

"You said that you want to be Hokage, right? So show everyone that you're not some brat that just knows how to run his mouth. Show them you can actually be mature enough to be Hokage. Because you won't become Hokage by screaming about or playing around, you have to show everyone just how serious you are about reaching your dream. So stop crying, seeing a ninja crying can be quite troublesome. And anyway, it's not like you can solve anything while crying your heart out, can you?" The Nara said shrugging. Orie nodded and looked at the blond, who was drying his tears.

"Maybe - when you prove yourself… I may accept your apology." The girl said, feeling sad about the kid's story. _'Maybe I can give him a chance…'_ She thought before turning back and opening her book. Naruto finished drying his tears before standing up and putting his fist on where his chest. Feeling once more inspired to go on further. Earlier, he was somewhat unsure of his future but now… now he knew what he was going to do.

"I promised that I will show everyone that I'm not just spoiled brat! I'll show them that I really can be serious about my dream! And I'll show the two of you that I won't be a burden! And I never go back on my words! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed seriously, both of his teammates looked at him before nodding.

And with that they stayed there in silence. With Orie reading, Masaru sleeping and Naruto thinking about everything that was said to him. Everything was quiet for a couple more minutes before the door to the classroom slid open. The three gennin saw a man enter.

The man wearing the standard jounin uniform, a headband covering his left eye and had grey gravity defying hair. The man looked at them with only one lazy eye, before his gaze turned into an eye-smile.

"Well, you seem like a nice bunch." The man said to them, before he turn around. "How about we go to the rooftop, eh?"

* * *

><p>To say that he was impressed with the three gennin was an understatement. He had hidden himself from his three potential students to see how they would act, the three other teams that he had taken an interest in before this one either bickered with one another or they stood there in silence. He thought that they were going to be the same as the latter. But then they surprised him beyond his wildest expectations! Orie made Naruto realize that actions do have consequences and the Nara gave him a small speech which was surprising in its own right. Even before he could give his test, the gennin were helping each other out.<p>

_'Well maybe not, Honda wanted to give Naruto a piece of her mind for what happened to her and the Nara probably wanted for the two of them to shut up.'_ Kakashi thought, leaning against the railing on the rooftop. _'But I can see them getting past most of their problems if they pass my test… let's see what you kids got.'_

"Alright, let's introduce ourselves!" The three gennin just looked at him with curious looks. "What? You don't know how to introduce yourselves? Fine, let me show you."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I won't tell you my likes or dislikes… I have a lot of hobbies and my dreams for the future… none of your business!"

The three gennin just looked at him with annoyed looks, this made him chuckle a bit. When the only female on the roof sighed and looked at him for approval to speak, he nodded at her.

"I'm Orie Honda, I like reading and training. I don't like slow people or annoying ones. My hobbies are eeh…" A blush appeared on her face, making Kakashi assume that the hobby had something to do with a boy. "…finding new names for my techniques… and my dream for the future is to become the strongest ninja in the world and make my sister proud." Kakashi nodded at her, surprised that she actually took her career seriously.

"The name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen! I dislike how long it takes to cook the ramen! And my hobbies… huh… probably taking care of my plants. And my dream is to be Hokage, so that everyone acknowledges me and to prove that I was always serious about my dream!" Kakashi smiled slightly, seeing the effects that the boy's potential teammates gave to him.

"My name is Masaru Nara. I like peace and quiet, I dislike loud and annoying people. My hobbies is tending the deers. My dream is to be a good ninja." Masaru said shrugging.

"You really are a nice bunch." Kakashi said cheerily and then switched a tone of indifference. "Okay, that's enough introductions; tomorrow we'll start our duties as ninja."

"What are we gonna do!?" Naruto questioned excitedly.

"Are we going to fight?" Orie asked, her face showing excitement at the prospect.

"Oh yes, the three of you will be fighting." Kakashi said, his tone turning a little bit cold. This made the gennin shift uncomfortably. "You three will show me if you have what it takes to be a ninja."

"But aren't we already gennin?" Masaru asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Not yet, that's why I said that you have to show me if you have what it takes to be a ninja…" Kakashi said, the man just chuckle at them before walking to the gennin. He pulled out three pieces of paper and handed them to the kids.

"In those papers is all the information that you need for you to be prepared for the survival training." The man said, then he turned around. "Now, don't be late tomorrow! You have to be on time! Otherwise I will fail you! Oh and don't eat anything either! You might puke!"

Then he disappeared, leaving three gennin to their thoughts.

* * *

><p>Naruto got to the forest and found his teammates already there. Masaru was asleep, while Orie was again reading the same book from yesterday. The blond walked up to her.<p>

"Good morning!" Naruto greeted. Orie looked up from her book and gave him a slight wave then went back to reading. Naruto sat beside her waiting for their sensei to arrive and feeling already hungry.

_'Man! Why the heck did I even skip breakfast!'_ The young boy complained internally then he looked at his female teammate and began to feel guilty. What had happened yesterday was still fresh on his mind, he really didn't want to stay on bad terms with his teammate so he decided to try and talk to her.

"So… watcha reading?" Naruto asked. Orie looked at him curiously; Naruto scratched the back of his head at the stare.

"It's a dramatic novel." Orie answer cautiously, still not willing to forgive the boy in front of her.

"Oh…" Was all Naruto said before elapsing back into silence. Orie cursed herself, seeing the blond frown. While she held it against him for all the trouble she and her dad had to go through, she couldn't find it in her to either stay angry or hate the boy. It just wasn't in her nature. And after the boy's sad tale, it made it even harder to hate him. But she still hadn't forgiven the blond and she would never forget those rough times. She sighed and decided to play along with the younger boy. And so they stayed there making small talk for a while before Kakashi arrived.

"Hey! Good morning!" Kakashi greeted cheerily.

"Hey, you're late again!" Naruto exclaimed pointing a finger at the man. Orie put her book back in her backpack and went to wake up Masaru. Kakashi chuckled for a moment before he gave them a lame excuse for being late, the man then told them to follow him into the training field. Once there, he placed a clock in one of the three tree stumps in the field.

"This is set for noon." Kakashi said. At this, the gennin stared at him with confusion and curiosity. The jounin ignored them and took two bells out of his pocket.

"Your objective… is to get the bells." The man then gave them a hard stare. "Those who don't have a bell by noon get no lunch." The man pointed toward the three tree stumps at the side. "Those who fail will be tied down and I will eat the lunch I brought right in front of you."

Then the gennin's stomach began to growl, excepts for Masaru. Kakashi turned one lone eye at him, ignoring the disgruntled faces of Naruto and Orie.

_'So he was smart enough to ignore my offhanded advice.'_ Kakashi thought. _'Let's see if you're smart enough to figure out the true meaning of this test.'_

"You only have to get one bell. There are only two… so one of you will be tied to the stump." Kakashi said jiggling the bells. "And… the one who doesn't get a bell will fail the test and be sent back at the academy."

The three gennin tensed, each of their face showing signs of discomfort. The man stood silent while putting the bells on the right side of his waist.

"You need to come at me with the intent to kill. If you don't, you will most likely fail this test." Kakashi said looking up at the sky. Everyone stood in silence waiting for anything, then… "Okay, let's get going."

At this the gennin readied themselves.

"BEGIN!" Kakashi commanded.

Orie prepared herself to jump back but was held off by Masaru, he tried to reach out and grab Naruto but the blond was already out of reach, charging toward the gray haired jounin.

Naruto gave out a battle cry and prepared to launch himself toward the man, but stopped short when he noticed the man reaching for something on his back. The blond tensed, preparing for a weapon, when the jounin pulled out an orange book. The man looked at the boy.

"Why did you stop?" Kakashi asked as he began to read the book. "You were doing so well… for a dead-last that is." The man said casually.

Naruto literally saw red and was about to rip the jounin a new one when he found he couldn't move. At this the young blond started to freak out and began screaming in fright when he found himself jumping toward the forest where his two other teammates were going.

"What the hell is going on!?" He shouted as he left the open field for the forest, leaving Kakashi alone in the field.

_'Hmm, interesting.'_

* * *

><p>Naruto found himself following his teammates against his own will when suddenly he began to feel control over his body. When he was about to question what was happening he found himself being dragged even further into the forest by Orie. After a few minutes they stopped.<p>

"What the heck was that about!?" Naruto exclaimed after being released by Orie. "I was about to kick that asshole right in the balls!"

"Kid, you really think you can take on a _jounin_, by yourself?" Masaru asked. Naruto was about to answer when all of the sudden he blushed realizing that he pretty much didn't have any special technique to beat the man… did he?

"Anyway, that's not why I dragged the two of you here." Masaru said gathering the attention of Orie and Naruto.

"You said that there was something iffy with this test." Orie said focusing on the pony-tailed boy.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean iffy? Don't we just have to get the bells and pass?"

"Yeah… but don't you find it weird." The Nara said. Orie looked at him in confusion.

"What's weird? That only two get to pass?" Orie asked, her mind beginning to get to work with all the questions popping up.

"Exactly, why would our sensei pass only two of us? When from all the gennin teams that I have seen there's always the three gennin and a jounin?" Masaru asked to himself already finding an answer to all his questions.

"It's because his a jerk!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. Orie looked at him with amusement and Masaru smirked to himself.

"You're exactly right." The response caused Naruto to look at the Nara in surprise. "He said that he wanted to see if we had what it takes to be a ninja. At first, I thought it was individual, but then I remember that if he wanted to see how good we were separately, all he had to do was check our academy records. So the other area he would want to test us in…"

"Would be as a team!" Orie finished, grinning and thanking whatever deity existed out there for giving her a smart teammate.

"But there are only two bells!" Naruto shouted, waving his arms. "So what if we show him that we can work as a team? What if he still fails us or sends one of us back to the academy? You admitted that he is an asshole!"

"Uzumaki does bring a good point. What if he just fails us?" Orie asked.

"We'll have to take the risk, I guess." The Nara shrugged at that. "How about we stop worrying about what ifs and start discussing strategies, hmm?"

Naruto grinned at that and Orie gave a smile. After a couple of minutes they were prepared, the gray haired man wouldn't know what hit him.

They never noticed the slight rustle of the leaves above in the trees.

* * *

><p>Kakashi landed on the same spot as before and began to read his favorite book, waiting for his potential students to make their move. He smiled a little, becoming more impressed with the three gennin.<p>

_'Well, what can you expect.'_ Kakashi thought._ 'With a Nara in the group, they were more than guaranteed to succeed.'_ Then the man noticed movement to his left, turning he saw a couple of shuriken coming his way. Kakashi merely sidestepped them, letting them pass right by him. The jounin turned to where the shuriken had been thrown and saw Naruto once more charging at him. This made him roll his eyes has he dodged a wild punch aimed roughly at his stomach, making the kid stumble forward. Just as he was about to capitalize on the boy's mistake he noticed a shadow above him, looking up he saw an incoming kick from the female gennin.

With his right hand, he quickly grabbed her leg before it could hit him, leaving the left one holding his book. His lone eye managed to see an offending hand approaching the bells on his waist. Realizing that the blond had recovered, the man swung the blue haired gennin toward the young ninja resulting in the two colliding and rolling away from him. Orie manage to recover, quickly grabbing Naruto and throwing a smoke bomb. The smoke cleared and revealed that the two gennin had disappeared, Kakashi stood there waiting for the kids' next course of action. The man's sense had screamed for him to move away and so he did.

Looking down he saw a shadow going to the spot he used to be, following the trail of the shadow he saw Masaru on his knee with a clear frown on his face. Landing swiftly on the floor the man put his book away and began to walk towards the black haired gennin.

"Lesson number 1, taijutsu." The man said cheerily. Masaru tensed and pulled out a kunai. Kakashi just chuckled before rushing towards the gennin. The man threw a punch which was barely dodged by the Nara. The gennin retaliated by slashing with his kunai in the area where the bells were, but found himself only cutting air. Kakashi took advantage of this by kicking the boy in the back, sending the kid flying towards the river in the far side. Before the black haired kid's body could collide with the river, Orie came in and managed to catch him. The two skidded before stopping Masaru thanked the girl before the two went to rush him. Kakashi smiled to himself.

"Lesson number 2, genj-!"

"Aaaaaaaah!" Was the loud battle-cry that the jounin heard. Quickly turning, he saw Naruto in the air finishing a hand-sing. Kakashi readied himself for a quick substitution, but…

"Take this! Sexy jutsu! Naruto shouted before being consumed by smoke. Before Kakashi could wonder what the young gennin was doing, a naked girl with an incredible body came out of the smoke, 'she' was falling right on top of him. "Kyaaah! I'm falling!"

This caught Kakashi off guard for a second before kicking the transformed boy away from him with his left leg, sending Naruto, who had transformed back after getting hit, crashing against a tree. Unfortunately for the man, he had left himself open and realized too late that his two other opponents had reach him.

_'Damn!'_ Kakashi cursed mentally, seeing his two students put themselves in a position where he was bound to either get hit or have the bells taken away from him. '_Not bad at all, they used Naruto as a distraction in order to get both my attention away from them and the time necessary to cross the distance that I created.'_

Masaru was in a low position, his hands reaching to take away the bells. Orie was up in the air ready to deliver an aerial axe kick. Unfortunately for the gennin, their opponent was a jounin and wasn't about to make the test be easy for them. The man's arm blurred and manage to grab the kids' leg and arm, twisting he threw them toward where Naruto had been thrown. They both crashed into the same tree as the blond and slid to the floor alongside Naruto… who wasn't there.

In fact the blond was on him, with a kunai, slashing where the bells were supposed to be…

_'Well, well, well.'_ Kakashi thought, seeing the bells falling toward the ground and Naruto hurriedly reaching for them. He could have stopped him but decided against it. '_I guess I was wrong in my assumption. Naruto wasn't the distraction, but the other two. Using misdirection and confusion to accomplish their goals - not bad. But now, the real test begins…'_

Naruto started to chant about getting the bells and his teammates began to get up, recovering from the attack of the jounin. Kakashi walked over to where the clock was and shut it down, he turned around and prepared himself for the final test he was about to give the kids.

"Good job on getting the bells." Kakashi congratulated the gennin, earning a cry of enjoyment from the blond, a grin from the girl and a smile from the older boy. "But… you got two bells, Naruto. And you really only need one to pass, so who are you going to give the bell to?"

This caused Naruto to stop chanting and turn to his teammates. He looked at the bells and threw one to Masaru. But the other bell stayed on his hand, with the blond hesitant to give it. Orie saw this and narrowed her eyes at the blond, showing the disappointment she felt at her younger supposed teammate.

Kakashi sighed, feeling too disappointment at the blond, he had though that after making it this far they would have been able to passed his test without problems. But he had underestimated the blond's desire to be a ninja. Just as he was about to tell them that they had failed, Naruto did something unpredictable, he walked up to Orie and handed her the bell!

Naruto turn around and looked at the jounin seriously. "I'll give them both bells!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi stared at him with surprise, clearly not expecting this turn of events.

"Why?" Was the question that all of them had, but was asked not by Kakashi, but by Orie.

"Because I'm not ready to be a ninja just yet." Naruto exclaimed, getting the attention of everyone there. "My dream is to be the best Hokage ever! To go beyond whatever the past Hokage have done and be the greatest! But… I was… no, I am way too much of brat! I tried to get people's attention with pranks and pranked anyone who made fun of me or my dreams. But I never knew that some of them actually hurt people…" Naruto trailed off, looking at the floor with a guilty expression before looking up, his face set into one of determination.

"So when I stop being a spoiled brat and become a kind and strong person like the Hokage…!" Naruto trailed off again but this time had giant grin on his face. "_Then_ I will become an awesome and cool ninja! Believe it!" While Naruto was happy at the chance of being a ninja, the knowledge that he had received yesterday made him feel awful and unworthy. Was the Old Man Hokage disappointed in him? Probably. So for that reason he would gladly go back to the academy so that he could make the old Hokage feel proud of him. And for Orie, he wouldn't take her chance of being a ninja from her. He had hurt her enough.

So with that, Naruto stared at the jounin defiantly, ready for his next words. Ready to hear how he failed. At how much of an idiot he was. He was ready! And strangely enough he felt calm about what was about to come next.

"You pass." Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked in shock. Orie smiled at the blond, her grip on the bell tightening, feeling grateful and moved by the blonde's words. Masaru just gave a knowing smile, clearly proud that his gamble worked.

"You pass." Kakashi repeated, this time chuckling. "Naruto, Orie, Masaru welcome to Team 4! You all passed with flying colors!

Throughout the entire forest, one could hear the happy shouts of Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

><p>Beta by Fallen Angel of Slovakia.<p> 


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